Improvement in ordnance



T. J. MAY-ALL FIELD ORDNANGB, 6w.

5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented May 21, 1861.

T. J. MAYALL. FIELD ORDNANGE, &c.

No. 32,376. Patented May 21, 1861.

Mz'incsses:

5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

T. J. MAYALL. FIELD ORDNANGB, &c. No. 32,376. Patented May 21, 1861.

5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

T. J. MAYALL. FIELD ORDNANGE, &c.

No. 32,376. Patented May 21, 1861.

d x'znessesz I cwj r 5 Shaets-Sheet; 5.

T. J. MAYALL. FIELD ORDNANGE, 820.

-EQAM I Patented May 21, 1861.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

THOMAS J. MAYALL, or ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 82,376, dated May 21,lt'ltil.

scription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,hereinafter referred to, formsa full and exact specification of thesame, wherein -I have set forth the natnre and principles of my saidimprovements, by which my invention may be distinguished from all othersof a similar class, together with such parts as'I'claim and'desire tohave secured to me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plates of drawingsrepresent.myimprovements. Plate 1, Figure 1 is a plan or top View. Plate2, Fig. 2, and Plate 3, Fig. 3, are side elevations. Fig. 4, Plato4, isa central longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 5, Plate 5, is a view ofone end. Fig, 6, Plate 5, is a transverse vertical sectiontakeu' inplane of theline A B, Fig. 1, Plate 1.

The present invention relates to certain improvements'in ordnance forfield-pieces, &c., for which I have: made other applications forseparate Letters Patent, .i'u which the various necessary operationsrequired in loading and firingcannon, &c., are performed automaticallyby machinery. llhe particular arrangement of devices foraccomplishingthese objects will constitute the subject of the presentapplication for Letters Patent.

A A in the drawings represent a base-such as the deck of a vessel, 850.;B B, a platform or carriage supported on four wheels, 0 G (J G, havingelastic tires of india-rubber or other suitable elastic material.

It has been found, particularly on board of ships, to be a source ofinaccuracy in firing, and as greatly interfering with the taking aim,when, in consequence of a succession of discharges of the guns, the jarsor vibrations imparted t0 the ship are so great as to cause it heavilyto roll from one side to the other. To obviate, or at least to reduce ordecrease, the vibrations thus imparted to the ship I interpose betweenthe deck and the wheels an elastic or yielding substance by providingsaid wheels withan indie-rubber orgutta-percha tire, as shown.

Upon the carriage B B is placed, so as to swing round upon the same uponsuitable friction-rollers, a circular plate, D D, the standards'E E ofwhich serve as hearings to the axles F F of a frame, G G, which servesto support the gun-barrel H H and its revolving cylinderI I, and issusceptible of being raised and depressed and set-at any desired anglewith the horizon (turning loosely on the axles F F) by means of devicesthe operation of which will be hereinafter described. The cylinder I Ihas formed in it a series of chambers, J J, &c.,..aud hasan intermittentrotary motion in a verticalplane imparted to it, so as to bring-each ofthe chambers J J, &c., in apposition with the gun-barrel E H, asfollows:

K-K in the drawings represent a drivingshaft having a conical-shapedpulley,L, and laterally-sliding friction-clutch M, operating together soas to produce any desired amount of speed. .A band or belt moving bysteam or horse power-canbe applied to the clutch M, or the main shaftmay be driven by handpower. On the end of the driving-shaft K is agear-wheel, N, which, by means of an intermediate gear, 0, communicatesmotion to 'a-gearwheel, P, the cluster of gears N, 0, and

P being connected-bytoggle or swingingarms Q Q R R, turning loosely uponbearings at S, T, and U. By thus connecting and supporting the gears N,O, and P it will be seen that the two gears O and P can he broughtnearer to the.gear N or travel away from the same, as the case may be,without disengaging any one of them with the others. The importance ofthis arrangement of gearing will be manifest, as it permits the maincarriage'to travel freely in a longitudinal direction when the recoiland resetting of the gun takes place without disconnecting the deviceswhich communicate motion from the driving-shaft. The gear P is on oneend of a horizontal shaft, V, extending under the carriage, on the otherend of which is a bevel-gear, W, that engages with a similar gear, X, onthe lower end of a short vertical shaft, Y, that passes upward looselythrough thecarriage B B and circular plate -I) D, and has on its upperend a bevel-gear, Z, that engages with a similar gear, a, placed a emais on a-horizontal shaft, F F turning loosely in proper bearings formedin the standards E E of the circular plate D.

Fixed, to one end of the shaft E is a gearwheel, b, which, by means ofgears c' and d, im

partsa rotary motion to the shaft 0, upon which the geard is placed.

On the shaft 0 is a projection, f, the office of which is to disengageat proper intervals of time a spring-clutch, g, from a series of holesin the chambered cylinder or magazine, the

[said spring-clutch, when not thus disengaged by the action of theprojection f, serving to firmly hold the cylinder in position whilebeing loaded, 86c. i g

On one end of the shaft 0 is a crank, i,having attached to it, orforming a part thereof, a suitable projection or stud, j, which as thesaid shaft e revolves abuts against and moves a lever-pawl, k l,swinging upon a fulcrum at m.

The spring-pawl h l is-thus made to engage at intervals with aratchet-wheel, it, placed on.

the same shaft 0 with the magazine I, which will thus receive anintermittent rotary mQ-f tion.-

Iwill next proceed to describe the manner in which the several sectionsor chambers J J,

850., of the cylinder 1 are loaded or charged with suitable cartridges,itbein g premised that the same movement which causes the severalchambers or chamber J to be brought in apposition to the gun-barrel alsocauses one'of the several sections or chambers J J, &c., to

be brought in snccessionin proper position for the insertion ofcartridges.

To-the crank B of the shaft 0, above referred to, is attached,so asswing'loosely thereon,- a connecting-rod, p. The connecting-rod pengagesat or near one end with a short shaft, 1g of the traveling carriage r,which thereby receives a reciprocating rectilinear motion.

Attached to the travelingcarriage r, or forming a part thereof, is thestock 8 of a rammer, t, which rammer t consequently receives the samemotion-as the traveling carriage, so that the charges or cartridgesbeing fed into a suitable hopper, u, will at the proper intervals oftime be driven into the several sections or chambers of the magazine.

In case from any accident the contents of any one chamber of themagazine should fail to be discharged the rainmer is prevented fromdriving in another cartridge by its being connected with a bent rod, '0,which, playing in suitable bearings of standards w to, abuts :against anarm, w, turning upon a center at y, and so actuates it as to disengagethe connect-- ing-rod from the short shaft of the sliding carriage r,above referred to, the rammer t and arm a: being retracted by means ofsprings z and A, one of which is coiled around the rod 1: and the otheraround the center or shaft 'of the arm a. Simultaneously with theloading or charging of one 'of the chambers J J, &c., one of the saidchambers is being sponged or swabbed outby means of devices which Iwilluowproceed to describe.

The swabbingout isaccomplished by somewhat substantially similar meansas was described for the loading, e being a'crank-shaft, before referredto,,towhich is'attached, so as to swing loosely thereon, aconnecting-rod, 0. This connecting-rod G is attached at its other endtoo short shaft, l), of the traveling ear riage E, which carriage hasconsequently imparted to it a reciprocating rectilinear motiom, E is thestock of the swabber G, the stock F being attached to or forming apartof the traveling carriage. The swabher, in consequence of thereciprocating.rectilinear motion imparted to the carriage E, as abovedescribed, will travel in andout of the several sections or chambers ofthe magazine successiyely, there- .by completely cleansing and spongingthe same during the entire revolution of the maga zine.

' H is 'a bent rod connected with .the swabber, which, in case ofthenon-discharge of any of the several sections, will, by reason of the,swabb'er abutting against the charge in the section, abut against thearm I, which arm I, turning upon a center at'J, will disconnect theconnecting-rod O and traveling carriage E. The rod H and arm I areretractedby means of springs K and L1on'e coiled around the rod H andtheother around the center of the arm I. I

The discharge of each chamber or section successively is provided for bythe following means: V

' M isa vertical sliding frame, which has a vertical motion imparted toit by meansof two studs or projections, N, one onthe interior surface ofthe crank-shaft i and the other on the same surface of the crank-shaftB, which studs N, upon the revolution of the cranks'i and B, interlockor engage with suitable notches, O, of vertical sliding pieces P Pof-the sliding frame M.

'To the vertical sliding frame M isattached a suitable rod, Q, which,upon the successive chambers or sections being'brought in properposition, will, by means of the downward motion imparted to the frame M,as described, enter into suitable touch-holes, B" B1,; &c. formed in theseveral sections or chambers. At the moment that the rod Q enters one ofthetouch-holes a spark of electricity may be sent through the same, thesaid rod being connected at one end with a suitable battery. The slidingvertical frame is retracted after the rod has entered the touchholes bymeans of springs S S, coiled around suitable rods, T T, uponwhieh theframe'slides.

The th umbing ot'lthe touch-holesafter each discharge is effected bymeans of a sliding piece U which, upon the downward motion horizon, asfollows: VV' is a verticalscrew passing through a rocker-shaft, X, ofthe rear portion of the swinging frame, so that upon turning a nut, Y,to the right-or left the swinging frame G G, and, consequently thegun-barrel, magazine, &c., will be elevated or.

depressed. The screw-shaft W terminates in a forked strap, Z attached byswinging joints to a carriage, a, made to travel upon the arc of acircle by means of a gear-wheel, b, that engages with the teeth of atoothed are, 0', thereby slewing the gun to the right or left,

as may be desired. The traveling carriage is set and held at any desiredposition upon the toothed are by means of .a wedge-shaped sliding rod,d, which, upon a forward motion being imparted toit, causes a strap, 0,to bear upward against the shoulders f of a grooved way upon which thecarriage bears. The strap is disengaged from the shoulders by thepulling' out of 'the wed ge-shaped rod.

In the accompanying drawings the gun is represented as being susceptibleof traveling horizontally upon a portion of the arc of acircle; but itwill be obvious that by continuing the toothed arc so as .to fo'rmacomplete circle the gun canbe made to travel around the'entirecircumference thereof.

From the foregoingdescription it will be seen that the guiding'orsteering of the gun, so as to discharge projectiles in every possibledirection,can be readily efi'ected during the time of and withoutinterrupting the various operations of loading, discharging,-&c.

To provide for the recoil of the gun, so as to reset it in the exactposition which it occupied previous to a discharge, I attach to each endof the gun-carriage B powerful rubber or other springs, g g, 81.0., soarranged and operating that both their tension and compression will actequally upon the gun'carriage. These springs I prefer to construct asfollows: h h arecrossheads which slide freely upon side bars, 6 5. Thesebars'are connected to an eye, j, which is fittedover a suitablestandard, It. The heads h bear upon the ends of a hollow elastic cylinder of indie-rubber, l, or other suitable elastic spring. Through thecenter of the spring and through the cross-heads passes a rod, m,terminating in a loop that is fastened to the gun-carriage B B. n n arewashers of indiarubber. It will be seen by this arrangement that the gunin recoiling will be acted upon so as to completely and accurately resetit by a double force-via, that of theexpansive force of thecompressedsprings at each end of the gun-carriage.

Having thus describedmy invention, I shall state my claims as follows:

1. The arrangement herein described of supporting the gun-barrel and itsrevolving cylinder, so that the same may be swung round horizontally andbe raised, depressed, and set at any desired angle with the horizon, bymeans of a brace or frame extending under said barreland cylinder,'andbeing pivoted or hung on a stationary axle in suitable brackets fast ona plate capable of horizontal rotation, substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. The. arrangement and application, substan tially as described, withrespect to the frame supporting the gun, and the mechanism 'forautomatically performing its functions, of

the devices for pointing the gun in any desired direction, so that thelatter maybe eflected independentlyof, simultaneonslyand withoutinterferingwith, the operation of the former, substantially' as shownand described;

3. Arranging the two shafts thatreceive and impart motion to thegun-operating mechanism in such a'manner tliatthey shall belocatedwithin the vertical plane passing transversely through the center ofgravity of the gun and its appurtenances, or thereabout, whereby the gunmay be operated with ease, substantially as shown and described.

4. Providing the rotary shaft 0 with a stud or projection, f, when soarranged as to actuate the' spring-clutch with which it is combined atevery revolution of said shaft and at proper intervals of time torelease its hold on the breech, as herein se3t'orth.

5. The rotary shaft 8 and the stud or projectionj, when the same arecombined with and arranged in relation to the breech-operatinglever-pawl to actuate the same to perform its functions, as shown anddescribed. v

THOS. J. MAYALL. Witnesses:

' J osnru GAVETT, A. W; Bsown.

